TLDR - Too Long; Didn't Read
Peter Knight, Helen Svoboda, Theo Carbo, Quinn Knight
TLDR (Too Long Didn’t Read)
TLDR is a new quartet brought together by trumpeter/composer Peter Knight who was until recently the artistic director of the Australian Art Orchestra (2013-23). Peter has developed an international reputation as a innovator who is extending the possibilities of his instrument with approaches that interweave acoustic preparations, extended techniques with electroacoustic processing via laptop, vintage delays, tape machines, and pedals.
Influenced by Brian Eno, John Hassell, The Necks, and swathes of electronic music, TLDR creates hypnotic, minimal, groove based music that is fresh and distinctive, and that spins these influences into a sound that defies categorisation.
Crossing generations, TLDR brings Peter Knight together some of the most influential younger musicians on the Melbourne scene. Bassist/vocalist, Helen Svoboda, who has built a large audience for her distinctive approach to double bass and voice, floats her melodic wordless soprano over deep grooves. Guitarist, Theo Carbo, who is highly regarded for his spare but driving approach to his instrument uses rhythmic repetition and textural variation to stunning effect, while brilliant 20 year old drummer Quinn Knight (who also happens to be Peter’s son), lays down shimmering cymbal washes and texturally rich beats that underpin the group’s sound.
In May 2025 TLDR's debut album will be released on the Australian label, Earshift Music accompanied by a national tour.
Peter Knight - trumpet/electronics
TLDR (Too Long Didn’t Read)
TLDR is a new quartet brought together by trumpeter/composer Peter Knight who was until recently the artistic director of the Australian Art Orchestra (2013-23). Peter has developed an international reputation as a innovator who is extending the possibilities of his instrument with approaches that interweave acoustic preparations, extended techniques with electroacoustic processing via laptop, vintage delays, tape machines, and pedals. Influenced by Brian Eno, John Hassell, The Necks, and swathes of electronic music, TLDR creates hypnotic, minimal, groove based music that is fresh and distinctive, and that spins these influences into a sound that defies categorisation.
Crossing generations, TLDR sees Peter Knight’s team up with some of the most influential younger musicians on the Melbourne scene. Bassist/vocalist, Helen Svoboda, who has built a large audience for her distinctive approach to double bass and voice, floats her melodic wordless soprano over deep grooves. Guitarist, Theo Carbo, who is highly regarded for his spare but driving approach to his instrument uses rhythmic repetition and textural variation to brilliant effect, while the youngest member of the group, brilliant 20 year old drummer Quinn Knight (who also happens to be Peter’s son), lays down shimmering cymbal washes and texturally rich beats that underpin the group’s sound.
In 2025 TLDR's debut album will be released on the Australian label, Earshift Music, accompanied by a national tour.
Peter Knight - trumpet/electronics
Perpetually curious, composer/trumpeter Peter Knight's practice thrives in the spaces between genres, categories, and cultures. His recent solo work extends the possibilities of his instrument with innovative approaches that interweave acoustic preparations, extended techniques with electroacoustic processing via laptop, vintage delays, tape machines, amplifiers, and pedals. Peter is interested in the use of repetition, rhythmic overlapping, slow harmonic evolution and subtle timbral evolutions to shift our perceptions of linear time. His latest solo album, SHADOW PHASE, is out now on the ROOM40 label. It was included in Headphone Commute’s Best of 2022, which described it as, "a carefully curated exercise in reflective restraint, dreamy atmospherics, ebbing dynamics.”
Helen Svoboda - double bass/voice
Born in Finland, now Melbourne based Helen Svoboda is a double bassist, vocalist, and composer. Her work explores the melodic potential of the contemporary double bass, intricately weaving extended techniques and overtones with vocal tessiture amidst abstract song-writing and diversely themed compositions. Though early in her career, Helen’s distinctive approach has led her to become one of the most in demand musicians in the country
“A musician who absolutely defies categorisation” (Andrew Ford – The Music Show, ABC), her performance practice emits a childlike, quirky energy, with a flair for "allowing difficult ideas to sound whimsical and free" (Kristin Berardi, AUS).
Helen’s awards and accolades include: 2023-24 Musica Viva Australia FutureMaker; 2020 Freedman Jazz Fellowship in Australia for her work as a bassist, vocalist and composer; 2020-2021 Pathfinders Associate Artist with the Australian Art Orchestra; 2020 Scriptiekunst. Thesis Price (NL); 2019 QLD Jazz Award with ‘The Biology of Plants’ ; 2020 Maastricht Jazz. Awards (MEATSHELL); 2019 Maastricht Award for Innovation in Music with MEATSHELL for their debut immersive theatre production “Peaceful Co-existence” which the duo wrote, produced and performed in.
Theo Carbo - guitar/electronics/producer
Theo Carbo is widely regarded as one of the most gifted young musicians in Australia. His distinctive, pared-back guitar style has earned him invitations to work with some of Australia’s most significant improvising musicians including Barney Mcall, Andrea Keller, Sam Anning, Nadje Noordhuis, Joseph O’Connor and Paul Williamson. A keen philosopher of music and a student of composition at the Victorian College of the Arts, Theo has recently been developing a broader practise which involves elements of experimental composition, electronic processes, solo and ensemble improvisation and studio engineering. In 2022 he was a finalist in the prestigious National Jazz Awards and in 2023 he was a finalist for the Freedman Awards. In 2023 his band with Imogen Cygler, My Liege, recorded their debut album Lamp Light at Sundlaugin studio in Iceland “One of the most gorgeous things you’ll hear all year” Triple J Unearthed. Theo was also nominated as Best Producer in the 2024 Music Victoria Awards (announced in October).
"Theo is a naturally gifted artist with a unique and refined take on things. His musical maturity is a great argument for the collective unconscious" - Barney Mcall
Quinn Knight - drums
Quinn Knight began playing the drums when he was just five and was playing professional gigs regularly by the age of fifteen. Since then he has shared the stage with an impressive list of musicians and plays regularly in The Mouth, a Ghanaian and Sri Lankan influenced quintet led by senior luminaries, percussionist Ray Pereira and saxophonist Julien Wilson. He also plays in trap crossover band, The Melbourne Trap Orchestra, which is building a serious following. He played drums for UK artist Jeremy Deller’s piece, ’Acid Brass’, which was part of Rising Melbourne 2024 festival, and is a member of The Sellenic, led by award winning young vocal duo, Ava McDermott and Margot Petrie.
Quinn studies music, majoring in drum kit, at University of Melbourne VCA campus, and was the winner of the 2024 Marion Thomas Award.
Photography by Sarah Walker